The LoCo Experience
The LoCo Experience is a long-form conversational podcast that dives deep into the journeys of business leaders, entrepreneurs, and changemakers in Northern Colorado. Hosted by Curt Bear, Founder of LoCo Think Tank, the show brings real, raw, and unfiltered conversations—where guests share their successes, struggles, and lessons learned along the way. LoCo Think Tank is Colorado’s premier business peer advisory organization, founded in Fort Collins to help business owners gain perspective, accountability, and encouragement to grow both personally and professionally. LoCo chapters bring together business owners at all stages of the journey into professionally facilitated peer advisory chapters, led by experienced business veterans. These groups provide a trusted space to share challenges, seek advice, learn togethter, and support each other’s success. The LoCo Experience Podcast extends this mission beyond the chapter meetings— bringing the wisdom, insights, and stories of local business leaders to a wider audience. Our triad mission with this podcast is simple: Inspire through real stories of resilience and success. Educate by sharing valuable business insights. Entertain with engaging, unfiltered conversations. If you love “How I Built This” and the free-flowing style of Joe Rogan - but with a Northern Colorado focus - you’ll enjoy The LoCo Experience! Our closing segment, "The LoCo Experience," asks guests to share their craziest stories — and we get some doozies! It’s a passion project with purpose, and we invite you to listen, follow, and share, and maybe consider sponsoring. Know someone with a great story? Nominate your favorite business leader for an episode!
Episodes
In this episode of the Loco Experience podcast, I sat down with Mark Rushing and Kathy Rushing to discuss their entrepreneurial adventures and 45-year marriage. Mark is the Owner of Portable Restroom Solutions, while Kathy is the Founder of Loadstar Relationship Coaching. They share their journey from their college days at Texas A&M, and into their early entrepreneurial ventures - which included a failed church plant. We al...
In this episode of the Loco Experience Podcast, I sat down with Chris Elder, Patrick Elder, and Austin Dodder, respectively the CEO, President, and COO - and Partners in Elder Construction, Inc. We start by delving into their roles at Elder Construction, along with their roots in Northern Colorado - and previous to that, Colorado Springs. Friends since birth and 1st grade, respectively, we explore together the history of their fr...
In this episode of the Loco Experience, I welcomed Travis Luther - sociologist, researcher, writer, speaker, entrepreneur, and Founder of Time to Live LLC. Travis shares his journey from a tumultuous childhood with young parents to pursuit of a music career and eventually finding his stride as an entrepreneur. He recounts his entrepreneurial ventures, including starting a successful valet advertising company and a legal tech compan...
In this episode of The LoCo Experience Podcast, I sat down with Dwight Sailer, the owner of HighCraft Builders based in Fort Collins, Colorado. We discussed Dwight's background and the early days of his business, including his journey from apprentice craftsman in Monterey Bay to a fresh start in Colorado and how he started HighCraft with his longtime business partner Bryan Soth. Dwight shared insights into the unique challen...
In this episode of the Loco Experience Podcast, I sit down with Joe and Melissa Basta, co-founders of Tellus, an outdoor apparel brand (and social enterprise) based in Fort Collins. They share their founding story, focusing on their commitment to sustainability using recycled or organic materials and donating 100% of their net profits to environmental initiatives. Melissa explains her role in overseeing marketing and the company&ap...
In this episode of the Loco Experience Podcast, I welcomed Murph McIver into the Studio. Murph is the Founder and Software Architect at Xeo Software, and moved his family from Honolulu to Fort Collins in 2021. We discuss what brought them here, the unique attributes of Fort Collins, and the vibrant business culture. Murph shared insights into his company's founding story and mission to help businesses automate and scale, esp...
In this episode of the Local Experience Podcast, I sat down with Sjeanne Cawdry, the Director and Founder of The Center of Liberation. Sean shares her diverse background, from being born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, to moving to Fort Collins, Colorado. Her journey includes a rich history in corporate investment banking in innovative roles, along with personal experiences that led her to found her center aimed at suppor...
In this episode of the LoCo Experience, I welcomed accomplished author, speaker, and teacher Gregg Vanourek into the studio. We discuss his recent book 'Triple Crown Leadership,' which he co-wrote with his father. The book uses the metaphor of the Triple Crown in horse racing to describe the triple crown of leadership: excellence, ethics, and endurance. We discussed the extensive research and interviews involved in deve...
In this episode of the LoCo Experience Podcast, I hosted Constantin Gurdgiev, Ph.D. and Associate Professor of Finance at the Monfort College of Business. Constantin outlines his work in the fields of economics, geopolitics, and finance, sharing insights from his research on geopolitical risks, tariff impacts, and financial market volatility. He also discusses his teaching and research positions in the United States and Ireland, em...
In today’s episode of The LoCo Experience, I was joined by Teres Lambert and David Haase - fellow members of the Breakfast Rotary Club in Fort Collins - which meets every Thursday morning at 7 am at Ginger & Baker! They were here in part to talk about a pair of significant Rotary events upcoming this spring and summer - the Field of Honor - May 23 - 26 - spearheaded by Teres, and talk with David about The Peach Festival - whi...
Wade Keith grew up in Alabama, and came to Colorado as a raft guide - but after he found love and wanted to start a family he decided to pursue a professional career. This journey included stops at Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Odell’s Taproom, Otterbox, and now approaching 15 years “Working at the Carwash”. But - not just any car wash - Breeze Thru Car Wash, the dominant membership car wash club in Northern Colorado. Wade is now a par...
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work - if the Beer Tastes Great! Josh & Angie Grenz, Owners of Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project in Loveland, and Verboten North Brewpub in Fort Collins.
I met Josh and Angie Grenz in the early months of their opening their first Verboten location in a quiet industrial park in Loveland, and Angie actually came to the very first organizational meeting for the first LoCo Think Tank chapter - before I ...
I met Edward Rinehart at my Rotary Club, where he was sharing his journey with DECA - Distributive Education Clubs of America - an organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management through educational programs and competitions. Colorado had 9,000 participants in DECA programs in 2024, with the top competitors advancing through District Competitions to State and Interna...
This week, I was pleased to be joined by Jessica Dizmang, the Owner/Operator of the ONLY three franchised Ben & Jerry’s locations in Colorado, with scoop shops located in Fort Collins, Denver, and Boulder. Her father had a career in corporate franchising, with a stop at Ben & Jerry’s, and made her aware of an opportunity in Boulder. She was a fresh college graduate, and very not inclined to work at an ice cream shop - but...
My guest today was Zak George, Founder and Owner and Head Coach at Zak George Landscaping, LLC. ZGL - as the trucks around town say on the side - is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year! Zak has a strong history of growth in the Residential and Commercial Construction and Commercial Maintenance segment, plus a substantial snow removal operation to keep some of the guys busy in the winter.
Zak has an interesting business mo...
Ginger Graham returns to The LoCo Experience studio, and this time brings her hunky husband, Jack!
Jack Graham came to Fort Collins to play quarterback for CSU, and was drafted into the NFL for the Miami Dolphins. In his post-football career, Jack quickly became an innovative disrupter in the reinsurance industry, and he founded International Catastrophe Insurance Managers, distributing risks from natural disasters such as hurric...
I met Pete Gazlay late in my banking career, as one of my colleagues was pursuing a banking relationship with the owner of a young but rapidly growing janitorial company - Total Facility Care. Pete founded the business in 2010, after departure from a fast-growing middle-market company in the same industry.
At the start, Pete was a one-man team, selling janitorial services during the day - and executing the cleanings at night! Th...
Alex Raymond is a 3x tech startup founder and entrepreneur who made the journey up from Boulder to The LoCo Experience studio to share his journey and some wisdom he’s learned along the way. He was an early client of TechStars, and has been a long-term mentor in the program. And - he share how listeners can expand their business brains and mindfulness at the Conscious Entrepreneur Summit - upcoming May 28 and 29 in Boulder.
This week, I was pleased to spend time with Scott Kissel, Executive Director of Sky Corral Ranch - located near the top of the full-year drivable portion of Old Flowers Road in Bellvue, Colorado. LoCo Think Tank has held its annual Next Level Summit at Sky Corral the past two years, and we’re pleased to return this August for another amazing dose of mountain hospitality!
Scott has lived quite an interesting journey, growing up in...
Ann Baron is the Founder and CEO of Northern Colorado Community - an events and networking and business support organization with members across Northern Colorado - as the name would imply!
Ann has lived an extraordinary journey, in some ways starting when was adopted from a South Korean orphanage at 4 years old, and raised by a family in Oregon. She became a teacher fresh out of college - didn’t like it - and went into her fathe...
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